Washington Update
Children Are Not a Security Threat
To recap, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) apprehends more than 5,000 unaccompanied newcomer children at our borders each year. Some are escaping political persecution while others are fleeing war, famine, abusive families or other human rights abuses in their home countries. These vulnerable youth, ranging from toddlers to teen-agers, are often subjected to prolonged incarceration under harsh and punitive settings. Over one-third are placed in juvenile jails where they are comingled with criminals. The children often face complex immigration proceedings alone and have no legal guardian to protect their best interests. The children’s bill was introduced to address these compelling needs by providing counsel and a guardian ad litem and by creating an office of children’s services. This may sound familiar to you, but what you may not know is that these issues are now being addressed in the new Homeland Security legislation, S2452/HR5005. Originally the children’s bill called for the Office of Children’s Services to be housed in the Department of Justice. The Homeland Security formulation transfers the care, custody and placement of unaccompanied children from the INS to the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). ORR’s years of experience and expertise in working with refugee children make it the most appropriate government agency to coordinate care and ensure that children’s best interests are served. You may be aware that LIRS works with ORR in providing placement for unaccompanied refugee children that arrive with the U.S. Refugee Program. While the House version of the Homeland Security bill recognizes the importance of removing children’s care from the INS and establishes the Office of Children’s Services in ORR, it does not go as far as the Senate version which incorporates virtually all of the original children’s bill, S121, including the provision of counsel and a guardian ad litem. As Congress reconvenes this fall, Homeland Security legislation will be heavily debated, amended and eventually passed. Children’s advocates are lobbying to ensure that the Senate version, S2452, retains all its current children’s provisions and comes out of conference intact. If you would like to call your senators and ask that they support the children’s provisions in S2452, your voices would be so welcome. We all know that unaccompanied children are not a security threat and that legislation pertaining to them should remain outside of the Department of Homeland Security. Thank you for helping us to take a stand for those the least among us!
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